One of the less obvious facts about the Zune is that as soon as you turn on the device, you have an abundance of quality content of both music and videos preloaded onto the device so you can literally start enjoying the experience from the first hands-on. On the other hand compare that to the “don’t steal music” sticker you have to peel off the iPod – which is like those “shoplifting is an offense” signs, makes you feel pretty guilty even if you have good intentions.

Of course, to enjoy these preloaded content it would have to mean you first have to own a Zune, right? Not quite! You see, Microsoft today has made available the entire preloaded contents pack downloadable (ZIP) from Microsoft’s servers with no strings attached. The reason this has been made available is that “if you have accidentally deleted the preloaded content, you can download it.” But I’d imagine we’re all pretty clumsy.

The ZIP archive comes at a whopping 410MB which contains all of the preloaded content on the 2nd-generation Zunes. Which includes,

If you’ve ever hosted a party or event, you would understand why it might be a good idea to invite people to it. The feeling you get even when one person accepts your invitation is like giving birth to new life, except of course that life is your party.

But the reality is, invitations can be stressful to send and manage. That is if you can first figure out who (not) to invite. But after that, Jackson Fish Market has launched a new web application/service called “Invitastic” that can make invitations a stroll in the park, but not like Central Park because that’s rather big.

Like all of the other Jackson Fish experiences, They’re Beautiful and Tafiti, this is a beautiful web application with plenty of subtle details like the different and unique styles for your ‘invitation card’. Another cool functionality I find is the ability to type both a guests’ name and email together which are automatically formatted for your when you submit. Unfortunately neither Steve Jobs nor Bill Gates have responded to my invitation, so I haven’t been able to check out how rest of the process works but I’m sure it does very well.

At the same time, Jackson Fish has also unveiled more details about their business model. On their new “sponsors” page, it is clear they will be accepting sponsors to ‘advertise’ in each of their software experiences for a hefty sum of $20k per month. The idea is an interesting alternative to standard contextual advertising like Google AdSense as it is more stable and controlled, but at the same time deliver good value for both parties.

Oh and by the way, you’re all invited to the festival. Hammers supplied.

There’s been quite a few positive reviews about the new Zune user interface and specifically the new font lavishly featured in the home screen. For example, cnet mentions “the main menu screen has been replaced with stunning, oversized text that takes readability to the next level”, and The Seattle Times says “Zune’s new top-level menu uses a big, modern font that’s not only stylish but easier to navigate”. Both of which I agree with, but I wanted to find out exactly what the font is.

As per usual, I went scavenging inside the Zune software resource files and it wasn’t long before coming across five TrueType font files buried in ZuneShellResources.dll. These appear to be all of the official Zune fonts used in both the software and marketing materials.

They are collectively called “Zegoe”, obviously based on the infamous Microsoft branding Segoe font.

Update: User xdrivenx has extracted the fonts and uploaded them to Rapidshare for all to download appreciate. I can smell the A-Team coming, so you better get it quick. Too late.

The Zune software hasn’t been released for very long but I’ve already thrown my usual arsenal of weapons at it in the hope something undisclosed in the source will waive the white flag. Fortunately, I won’t go to sleep empty handed as I’ve discovered a new device color for the Scorpius 4GB/8GB Zune that is not yet available for sale or mentioned anywhere in the marketing materials.

The fifth color is called “Citron” and can be simply described as citrus yellow. When this color will be available, it will bring the total choice of colors to five – pink, red, black, green and yellow. Unlike the other colors however, the squircle touch-pad is filled black instead of the same color.

Because all the appropriate resource files for this color model are already embedded in the Zune software, the most obvious explanation is that Microsoft is holding back this model for the holiday season as a surprise. In which case, this post does not exist.

Update: According to the knowledgeable Paul Thurrott, he says the yellow Zune is a commemorative gift only for the Zune team itself and ship with an extra load of memory 16GB in total. In which case, I’d still reckon it’ll sell pretty well if it was ever released.

Featured on the new Zune website are a sample of all the new print ads for the 2nd-generation Zune. Suffice to say, they are definitely works of art. The style is similar to the cartoon vectors found on the Zune Journey flash website featuring funky shapes and out-of-the-ordinary characters. I’d be interested to see where these appear, whether outdoor billboards or magazines.

Launch
new 4, 8 30, 80GB zune
beginning 11.13.07

Zune Pass
The new Zune 4, 8, 30 and 80GB.
Subscribe to Zune Pass and fill up on millions of songs for just $14.99/month.

Wireless Sharing
The new Zune 4, 8, 30 and 80GB.
Share you music and pictures from Zune to Zune and sync your files to your PC – all wirelessly.

Go check it out. The new “Social” is up too. Watch out iTunes! It’s Facebook meets XBOX Gamercard!